Display case



Dec. 6, 1966 H. L. KOLSTER 3,290,107

DISPLAY CASE Filed June 28, 1965 INVENTOR.

HARVEY 1.. KOL$TR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,290,107 DISPLAY CASE Harvey L. Kolster, Independence, Mo., assignor to Hallmark Cards, Incorporated, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed June 28, 1965, Ser. No. 467,426 Claims. (Cl. 312-2341) like; to provide a display case having individual display facilities with storage facilities associated thereto; to provide a device having easily accessible storage facilities to facilitate purchaser self-service; to provide a device wherein coordinated sets of wrapping paper, ribbon and cards may be openly displayed together as they might appear on a package with a storage facility associated with said display wherein a purchaser may serve himself in obtaining those articles displayed; to provide a display and storage case with doors pivotably mounted to the cabinet and having display facilities attached to the front of the doors with storage facilities housed behind the doors; to provide a device for the display and storage of wrapping paper, ribbon and cards wherein the storage facility is specifically designed to house said articles of merchandise; to provide a display case having a plurality of compartments with racks in the compartments for supporting mearchandise that is displayed on the closure member of each of said compartments; to provide a display case having a plurality of compartments, each having forwardly inclined racks where rolls of merchandise may be stored and said rolls will move forwardly by gravity as the supply of merchandise is depleted, thereby facilitating customer ease of removal of the merchandise; to provide a display case having a plurality of compartments, each having a plurality of removable trays for storage of merchandise to be used in relation to wrapping paper such as cards, ribbon or the like; to provide a merchandising device which may be easily and inexpensively constructed.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth by way of illustration and example certain embodiments of this invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display case embodying the features of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the display case on an enlarged scale showing the construction of the individual storage facilities and the door units attached thereto housing the display facillties.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the display case showing the floor portion of the lowermost storage section and its relationship to the lower door panel.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a portion of the side wall of the display case with a merchandise support element attached thereto.

FIG. 5 is a perspective View, having a cutaway portion, of the tray element utilized for storage of ribbon rolls and cards.

Referring to the drawings in more detail:

The reference numeral 1 generally indicates a display case embodying the features of this invention with compartments 2 having racks and trays for supporting articles displayed for merchandising. In the illustrated example, the display case 1 has a housing 2 comprised of a back panel 3, a top wall 4, opposed side walls 5 and a bottom "ice panel 6, the panels and walls being secured together to form the housing 2, having the front side 7 open to receive the individual storage and display facilities 8 and 9 respectively. The preferred embodiment illustrated is shown as being free-standing; however, it should be recognized that said housing 2' need only be comprised of two opposed side panels which could be either freestanding or mounted upon a store or like wall.

A back partition 10, as illustrated, is suitably secured to the top wall 4 as by a tongue and groove joint 11 and extends downward from the top panel with a vertical portion 12 and then an angular portion 13 extending angularly downward and forward to provide an inclined backing member for the storage compartment 2. The back partition 10 extends between and is secured to opposed side walls 5 in a conventional manner.

The individual storage compartments 2 are separated by shelves 14 having a body portion 15 which extends forwardly and downwardly from the backpartition 10 and as illustrated, is secured at its rearward edge 16 to said partition 10 by a tongue and groove joint 17. Shelf element 14 also has an upturned lip portion 18 at the forward edge 19 of the body portion 15 extending upward generally perpendicular to the body portion 15, said body portion 15 and lip portion 18 extending between and being secured to the opposed side walls 5 in a conventional manner. The storage compartment 2 is therefore defined by shelves 14 and the back partition 10. In the preferred embodiment, the shelves 14 are attached to the back partition 10, which is angularly inclined; however, it should be noted that said shelves 14 could be attached to a vertical partition or wall in the same manner.

Within each storage compartment 8 and attached to the side walls 5 of the housing are racks 20, angularly disposed forwardly and downwardly in generally the same manner as shelves 14. The racks 20 are comprised of a base portion 21 which, as illustrated, receives and supports the end of the rolls of merchandise 22, as shown in. FIG. 1. The base portion 21 has a side flange 23 extending upwardly from one edge thereof with securing means 24, illustrated as nails or bolts, for attaching said rack member 20 to side walls 5. The forward and lower end 25 of base portion 21 of the rack member 20 has an upturned lip portion 26' utilized to retain the rolls 22 onsaid racks 20. The racks 20 are placed on each side wall 5 in opposed relation at approximately the same elevation to support each end of the rolled merchandise 22. The width of base portion 21 may be varied to compensate for shorter rolls of merchandise or merchandise in other for-ms.

Closure members 26 are hingedly secured to the upper exterior edge portion 27 of the upturned lip portions 18 of shelves 14 by hinge elements 28. The closure members 26 may, therefore, be swung downward and outwardly to allow access to the storage compartment 8. Chains 29, as illustrated, are attached to the interior side 30 of the closure member 26 and to the interior side 31 of each side wall 5 respectively to prevent excessive rotation of the closure member 26 when moved to an open position as shown in FIG. 1. When the closure member 26 is in its closed position, the upper edge 32 of said members lies in contacting relation to the upturned lip portion 18 of the above and adjacent shelf element 14 and below the hinge element 28 attached to said upper exterior edge portion 27 of the upturned lip portion 18 of the shelf 14.

The display facilities 9 are attached to the exterior side 33 of the closure members 26. The display facility 9 is comprised of two channel members 34 and 35 disposed in opposed relation to one another, one at the upper portion 36 of said closure member 26, and the other at the lower portion 37 of said closure member 26. Channel 34 is disposed at the lower portion of the closure member 26 and extends across the length of said closure member 26 with the side flanges 38 and 39 of the channel member 34 extending upward toward the opposite channel member 35. Side flange 38 of said channel member 34 is secured to the exterior surface 33 of the closure member 26 by conventional means. The other channel member 35 is disposed at the upper portion 36 of the closure member 26 extending across the length of said closure member 26 between the side walls of the housing 2 with its side flanges 40 and 41 extending downwardly toward the op- .posed channel member 34. Side flange 4%) of said channel member 35 is secured to the exterior surface 33 of the closure member 26 by conventional means. The merchandise to be supported and displayed is retained within the side flanges 38, 39 and 40, 41 respectively of the opposed channel members 34 and 35 as shown in FIG. 1. Two wrapping paper, ribbon and card assemblies 42 are shown mounted within the channel members 34 and 35. The distance between said channel members 34 and 35 may be varied to accommodate for various widths of merchandise to be displayed. The channel member 35 disposed at the upper portion 36 of the closure member 26 has a flange 43 extending from the base portion 44 of the channel member 35 outwardly and downwardly to provide a handle for opening the closure member 26 The articles of merchandise in assemblies 42 displayed on any given closure member 26 may correspond to the merchandise in the storage compartment 8 immediately behind said closure member 26.

Referring to FIG. 3, a bracing member 45 extends between and is secured to the opposed side walls 5 of the housing 2 in contact with the lower exterior edge portion 46 of the upturned lip portion 18 of the lowermost shelf element 14. The bracing member 45 serves to provide additional rigidity to the display structure.

Referring to FIG. 2, a door panel 47 is hingedly secured to the bottom panel 6 of the housing 2' by hinge element 48. The upper portion 49 of said door panel 47 is disposed in contacting relation to the bracing member 45 and the lower exterior edge portion 46 of the upturned lip portion 18 of the lowermost shelf element 14. The door panel 47 has a handle 50 disposed along its upper portion 49 and utilized for rotating said door panel 47. The handle 50 has a base portion 51, an inner side portion 52 and an outer side portion 53. The base portion 51 of the handle 50, as illustrated, is disposed in overlying contacting relation to the upper edge portion 54 of the door panel 47. The inner side portion 52 of said handle 50 is received in a recessed portion 55 in the interior'surface 56 of the door panel 47 and is secured thereto. The outer side portion 53 extends downward from the base portion 51 in spaced relation to the exterior surface 57 of the door panel 47, to provide a portion which may be grasped when rotating door panel 47. The door panel 47 also has attached thereto a catch means 58 to hold the door panel 47 in a closed upright position, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Backing member 59 is attached to the interior surface 56 of the door panel 47 and has its lower edge 60 in general contact with the interior surface 61 of the bottom panel 6 to prevent excessive inward rotation of the door panel 47.

Referring to FIG. 5, reference numeral 62 generally refers to a tray element. The tray element 62, as illustrated, is comprised of a channel-shaped element 63 having a base portion 64 and side portions 65 with a cover member 66 extending between and secured to the side portions 65 of the tray element 62. The cover member 66 has downturned flanges 67 lying in contacting relation to the side portions 65 and is secured thereto and a merchandise support surface 68 extending between said side portion 65. The front edge 69 of the cover member 66 has an upturned lip portion 70 to prevent slippage of merchandise from the support surface 68. The tray element 62 is placed within the storage facility 8 with its base portion 64 bearing upon shelf 14 with the front edge 71 of the side portions 65 of the tray element 62 resting against the interior surface 72 of the upturned lip portion 18 of the shelf element 14, as shown best in FIG. 2. It should be noted that the rack members 20 are mounted on the interior surface 51 of the side walls 5 such that the lowermost support 20 is above the upper edge 73 of the side portion 65 of the tray element 62, thus allowing the rolled merchandise 22 to overly the tray element 62.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ribbon rolls 74 are disposed in the lower compartment 75 of the tray element 62 and cards 76, not shown, or similar flat merchandise is disposed on the cover member 66 of the tray element 62. The number of tray elements 58 normally utilized would correspond to the number of separate assemblies 42 merchandise displayed on the closure member 26. It should be noted that elements similar to the tray elements 62 could be built into the display rack 1 rather than utilization of separate elements. Separate elements are shown in the preferred embodiment as such results in greater flexibility in use of the display case 1.

The display case 1, as illustrated, is constructed of wood; however, it may be constructed of metal, plastic or the like or any combination of the aforestated materials.

It is to be understood that while I have illustrated and described one form of our invention, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement of parts herein described and shown except insofar as such limitations are included in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A display case comprised of:

(a) a housing means having at least two opposed side walls having an upper portion, 7

(b) a back partition extending between'the side walls and connected thereto, inclined downwardly from the upper portion of said side walls and forwardly,

(c) a series of shelf elements extending between the side walls and secured thereto, with the rear edge of said shelf elements secured to the back partition and inclined angularly downward and forward from said partition, each shelf element having an upturned lip portion on the forward edge of said element,

(d) a closure member having upper and lower portions hingedly secured to the upturned lip portion of each of the shelf elements, the upper portion of said clo sure member engaging the lip portion of the adjacent overlying shelf element and below its own hinge element, said closure member having opposed channel members with side flanges secured to its upper and lower portion with the side flanges of each channel member extending inwardly toward the opposite channel element, whereby merchandise may be displayed on the closure member by insertion of the merchandise within the side flanges of the channel members,

(e) a series of pairs of racks secured to the opposed side walls between adjacent overlying shelf elements in opposed overlying relation to one another and inclined in a forward downward direction, said rack having an upturned edge at its lower forward end to prevent the rolls from falling from the supports and an upturned flange portion lying in abutting relation to the side wall with securing means for attaching said supports to said side walls,

(f) a series of tray elements disposed on the shelf element lying below the lowermost rack, said tray elements comprised of:

(l) a channel-shaped member having a base and side portions,

(2) a cover member having downturned flanges on its outer edges, said flanges lying in contacting relation to the side portions of the channelshaped member and secured thereto and having an upturned flange at its front edge portion to retain merchandise thereon.

.2. A display case comprised of:

(a) a housing means including at least two opposed side supports and a front portion,

(b) a series of shelf elements connected to said housing and extending between said side supports at spaced elevations,

(c) a closure means hingedly connected to each of said shelf elements on said front portion for closing the open space between adjacent shelf elements, said closure means having an exteriorly exposed surface, said surface having means thereon for display of merchandise assemblies to demonstrate the utilization of the merchandise contained behind said closure means and in said display means,

(d) means in the space between adjacent shelf elements for the support of gift wrapping material in roll form,

(e) means in the space between adjacent shelf elements for retaining ribbon and cards for use with the gift wrapping material.

3. A display case as recited in claim 2 wherein the closure means has an upper and lower portion and wherein the display means on the closure means is comprised of:

(a) a channel member having side flanges extending over the length of the closure member at the lower portion thereof with the side flanges of the channel member disposed upwardly,

(b) a second channel member having side flanges extending the length of the closure member at the upper portion of said closure member with its side flanges disposed downward and toward the first channel member the side flanges of the first and second channel members being adapted to receive therebetween merchandise assemblies in a flat form to illustrate coordinated assemblies of ribbon gift wrapping and cards.

4. A display case as recited in claim 2 wherein the 40 means for storing merchandise in roll form is comprised of a series of pairs of racks secured to the opposed supports between adjacent overlying shelf elements in opposed overlying relation to one another and being inclined in a forward downward direction, each rack being 5 comprised of:

(a) a base portion on which the merchandise bears,

(b) a flanged portion along the edge of the base portion, said flanged portion being secured to the side wall, and

(c) an upturned lip at the lower front edge of the base portion to prevent slippage of merchandise from the base portion.

5. A display case as recited in claim 2 wherein the shelf elements each have a forward upturned lip portion extending longitudinally thereof and wherein the ribbon and card storage means is comprised of a plurality of tray elements being disposed on the shelf elements against said lip portion, said tray elements being comprised of:

(a) a channel member having a base and side portion to receive ribbon rolls therebetween,

(b) a cover member extending between the side portions of the channel member and having an upturned flange at its front edge portion to retain merchandise on the cover member to receive cards and the like.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 1/1955 Switzerland.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner. 

2. A DISPLAY CASE COMPRISED OF: (A) A HOUSING MEANS INCLUDING AT LEAST TWO OPPOSED SIDE SUPPORTS AND A FRONT PORTION, (B) A SERIES OF SHELF ELEMENTS CONNECTED TO SAID HOUSING AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SIDE SUPPORTS AT SPACED ELEVATIONS, (C) A CLOSURE MEANS HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO EACH OF SAID SHELF ELEMENTS ON SAID FRONT PORTION FOR CLOSING, SAID OPEN SPACE BETWEEN ADJACENT SHELF ELEMENTS, SAID CLOSURE MEANS HAVING AN EXTERIORLY EXPOSED SURFACE, SAID SURFACE HAVING MEANS THEREON FOR DISPLAY OF MERCHANDISE ASSEMBLIES TO DEMONSTRATE THE UTILIZATION OF THE MERCHANDISE CONTAINED BEHIND SAID CLOSURE MEANS AND IN SAID DISPLAY MEANS, 